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Favorable Ruling for GM in Ignition Recall Lawsuit

A lawsuit that’s been hanging over the wheel at General Motors for some time has seen the company score at least a small victory, according to a new report. The automaker has gotten a ruling limiting claims for diminished value in the wake of the ignition-switch defect recall that started more than five years ago.

It started in 2014, when GM recalled 800,000 Chevy Cobalts and Pontiac G5s. It then expanded to cover approximately 29 million vehicles in North America. The ignition switch could rotate inadvertently and shut off the engine during driving, which could cause an accident. Worse still, the airbags could fail to deploy because the ignition was switched off.

Automotive News reports that U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman said owners in California, Missouri, and Texas could not seek damages based on the difference in value between what they paid for their cars, and the reduced value they may have experienced as a result of the recall.

The judge said that the owners failed to show the fair market of their vehicles. While that ruling covered just three states, it’s likely that courts in other states would see their suits similarly.

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